Electric programme-clock



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

A. J. REAL/Is. ELECTRIC PROGRAMME ELOGK.

Patented Sept. 21, 1886.

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' l f I 2 sheets-:sheen v2.' A. J. REAMS.

BLEGTRIG PROGRAMME CLOCK.

No. 3.49.6051. Patented Sept. 21, 1886'.

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SPECIFICATION' forming part of Letters Patent Nfo. 349,605, dated September 214 1886.

f Application filed .Tune 28,A1SE6. ScrialNe.206.409. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW JnREAMs, a citizen of the United States, and a residentA of Augusta,` in the county of Butler and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ProgrammefClocks; and

Y I do hereby declare that the following is a 'panying drawings, which form av full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appcrtains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompart of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a front View of as much of the works of a clock as will illustrate my invention. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same. Fig. Sis a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the board having the strips, and of the cylinder. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the same, and Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the connection with the bells. f

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

My invention has relationto that class of clocks in which electrical bells or similar alarms are sounded at given intervals by suitable means for making or breaking a current or currents connected to the works of the clock 5 and it consists in the improved'construction and combination of parts of such `a clock, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

'In the accompanying drawings, the letter A indicates the arbor of the minute-hand of a clock, and this arbor has a ratchet-wheel, B, secured upon it having twelve cogs or teeth, registering with-the corresponding divisions upon the dial of the clock. The arm C,whicl1 projects from a rocking shaft, D, from which projects another arm, E, which releases the striking mechanism of the clock, engages the ratchet-wheel with its bent free end, and it will be seen that as the ratchet wheel or disk is revolved with the arbor of the minute-hand the arm is tilted twelve times in one hour, or.

every five minutes, releasing the striking-train every five minutes. The cog-wheel F upon the inain arbor of the striking-train, which is revolved by means of the spring G, attached to the said arbor, meshes with a small cogwheel or pinion, H, upon a shaft or arbor, I, journaled in the lower end of the clock-frame,

and this arbor is providedV at its other end with a cog-wheel, J, of a much larger diameter. Acylnder, K, of hard rubber,`hardwood, or other similar hard and non-conducting material, is journaled upon an arbor, L, having a ratchet-whcch'M', upon its inner end, which is engaged by aj pawl, N, pivoted upon the face of the cylinder, and having a spring for forcing it into engagement with the ratchetwheel, and the rear 'face of this cylinder is provided with a cog-wheel, O, secured upon the rear face, which wheel is provided with a number of cogs corresponding to the cogs in the striking-train and in the intermediate gear, so that the cylinder will be inoved one one-hundred-and-torty-fourth part of a revo- `The periphery or surface of the. cylinder is divided with parallel circular grooves l?, and with sockets or perforations Q in the said grooves at equal distances, the said sockets being arranged to the number of one hundred and forty-four in each groove. Plugs B it withk their reduced inner ends, S, in the sockets, having their outer flattened portions formed with inclined edges T. A board or shelf, U, is secured to the clock-frame below the cylinder, and the upper side of this shelf is recessed at its'middle, as shown at V, and a fiat plate of brass, W, is secured by means of a binding-post, X, to one end of the shelf, having its inner portion projecting over this recess and extending to slightly beyond the middle of the same. rllhe inner free portion of this plate is slitted longitudinally, so as to form narrow strips Y, of equal width, and the ends of these narrow strips are bent upward, as shown at Z, and the upwardlybent ends maybe engaged by the oblique outer ends of the plugs in the periphery of the cylinder sufficiently to be depressed. Thel free ends of the strips are provided upon their under sides with platinum contaetpoints A', which, when the strips of the plate are depressed, may come in contact with similar contact-points, B', upon the free ends of a number of brass strips, C', which stripsare secured by means of individual binding-posts D upon the other end of the recessed shelf, the said strips being separated and insulated from each other. Screws E pass up through the reduced portion of the shelf from below at each end of ICO the recess, and these screws carry upon their upper ends blocks F or strips of rubber or other insulating material, which may be forced up against the under sides of the strips by the screws, and in this manner raise or lower the free ends of the strips, adj usting them with relation to the plugs upon the cylinder. A. wire, G, is secured to the binding-post of the slitted plate and passes to a battery, I-I, from which passes another wire, I, which passes to aswitch-board, J', from which extend a number of wires, K', to a corresponding number of alarm-bells, Il, from which pass wires M to the binding-posts of the separate metallic strips. It will now be seen that as the clockwork runs,the cylinder will be moved a space of one one-hundred-and-forty-fourth of a revolution every ve minutes,and if a plug is adjusted in a socket corresponding to a certain given time the said plug will, on arriving at the upwardly-bent end of the corresponding strip, depress the said strip, bringing the contact-points in contact, and closing the circuit in that strip and ringing the bell corresponding-to the said strip, and in this manner a suitable number of plugs may be placed in sockets registering with certain given spaces of time, and registering with either of the strips and its bell, so that any one of the bells maybe sounded at any given time. This clock will be particularly useful in schools or other educational institutions, or at any places where the tasks or recreations of the day are assigned to certain subdivisions of time, as the cylinder may be provided with any suitable number of plugs, which will sound the alarm in the different bells at the desired moments.

' Five rows of sockets are shown upon the cylinder and iive registering sets of strips and bells in thefdrawings, but it follows that any number of rows of sockets may be had, the cylinder being simply made longer, and a corresponding number of strips and bells may then be had. The cylinder lits upon a central sleeve or bushing, N,which revolves upon `thearbor, and the inner end of this bushing is provided with the ratchet-wheel M, which is engaged by the pawl N upon the cog-wheel O upon the rear face of the cylinder, and this cog-wheel is engaged by a pawl, O', preferably operating by gravity, which vpawl prevents the Acog-wheel from revolving backward, the said cog-wheel revolving upon the bushing between the cylinder and the ratchetwheel, the pawl upon the cog-wheel engaging the ratchet-Wheel upon the bushing, driving the cylinder forward with the cog-wheel, and allowing the cylinder and the bushing to be moved forward without interfering with the cog-wheel. This construction will allow the cylinder to be set so as to have the correct portions of the periphery of the cylinder engaging the upwardly-bent ends of the strips with the plugs at the proper time, the rows and the series of sockets being preferably numbered corresponding to the dial of the clock. As the striking-train of the clock in this case is set in motion every iive minutes, it follows that the clock will not strike the hours in the usual way; but if it is not desired to have the striking-train operate the cylinder any other suitable gear may be used which will set the cylinder in motion once every five minutes, being operated from the ratchet-disk upon the arbor of the minute-hand.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesl. In a programme-clock, the combination of a number of strips having upwardly-bent ends and downwardly projecting contactpoints, and having one wire of a circuit attached to them, contact points below the points of the strips having individual wire connections to alarm-bells and to the circuit, a cylinder having circumferential rows of plugs registering with the strips and secured at suitable distances, and suitable means for revolving the cylinder a given portionof a revolution at givenintervals, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

2. In a programme-clock, the combination of a number of strips having upwardly-bent ends and downwardly projecting contactpoints, and having their inner insulated ends united and connected to the circuit-wire, a number of individual strips having upwardlyprojecting contact-points below the points of the united strips,and having individual wires, a corresponding number of bells having the wires attached to them, and having a corresponding number of wires passing from them, a switch-board receiving the Wires and having the line-wire entering it, and a cylinder having a number of plugs arranged in circumferential rows at given distances and engaging the ends of the strips, and having means for revolving it a certain portion of a revolution at given intervals, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

3. In a programme-clock, the combinatio of a cylinder having plugs projecting in circumferential rows at given distances from each other, and having means for revolving the said cylinder a given portion of a revolution in a given space of time, a plate having its free portion slitted longitudinally into strips having upwardly-bent ends, and having contactpoints upon the under sides, and provided at the united portion with a circuit-wire, separated and insulated strips having contactpoints registering with the other points, and having individual wires to alarm-bells, and a switch-board receiving the wires from the bells and uniting them, having a wire extending to the battery, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

4. In a progran'lme-clock, the combination of a set of strips having upwardly-bent ends and downwardly-projecting contact-points, la set of strips having upwardly-projecting contact-points, a cylinder having series of proj eeting plugs, and means for revolving it, and blocks or strips below the str ps, having screws IOO IIO

IIS

insulating blocks placed transversely under the strips, and screws passing through thebottom of the recess in the shelf and supporting the transverse blocks upon their upper ends, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

6. In a programineclock, the combination of a ratchetdisl; having twelve teeth, and Secured upon the arbor of the minute-hand, anl arm from the striking-train engaging the teeth of the said disk, and having suitable connection for releasing the striking -train when dropped,va shaft having a pinion engaged by the cog-wheel upon the spring-arbor of the striking-train, and having a cog-Wheel at the other end, a cylinder having a central bushing provided With a ratchet-wheel, and having circumferential rows of one hundred and fortyfour sockets each, a cog-Wheel meshing with the cog-wheel upon the shaft, and having a pawl engagingy the ratchet Wheel upon the bushing, and having a pawl engaging it, and strips engaged by plugs in the sockets of the cylinder,and having means for closing circuits of different bells registering and connected with. the strips, as and for the purpose shown and set forth. l

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as in v own I have hereunto afiixed 1n y signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREV J. REAMS. W'itnesses:

W. J. SPEER, J. XV. SKAER.' 

